CENTURY CITY, CA - FEBRUARY 13: Actress Geena Davis attends the Backstage Creations Celebrity Retreat at The 2016 Writers Guild West Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on February 13, 2016 in Century City, California. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images for Backstage Creations)

CENTURY CITY, CA - FEBRUARY 06: Actress Geena Davis attends the 68th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on February 6, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.(Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 14: Geena Davis arrives at the Premiere Of Walt Disney Pictures And Lucasfilm's 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' on December 14, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 07: Geena Davis attends a screening of 'Suffragette' on the opening night of the BFI London Film Festival at Odeon Leicester Square on October 7, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 08: Geena Davis attends the Geena Davis symposium during the BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank on October 8, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images for BFI)

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 07: Geena Davis attends a screening of 'Suffragette' on the opening night of the BFI London Film Festival at Odeon Leicester Square on October 7, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

Described as a modern reinvention, the Fox drama pilot is inspired by William Blatty's 1971 book. The potential series is a propulsive, serialized psychological thriller following two very different men (Alfonso Herreraand Ben Daniels) tackling one family's case of horrifying demonic possession, and confronting the face of true evil.

Davis will play Angela Rance, a naturally beautiful, regal and proud woman who is weighed down by stress, she does everything she can to stay positive and keep her faith even though her family is currently struggling. She can't help but think, however, if perhaps her nightmares about a demon are a sign of what's wrong.

The casting marks Davis' return to series regular broadcast television following her Golden Globe winning role as the president in ABC's Commander in Chief. She won a supporting actress Oscar for The Accidental Tourist and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for her co-starring turn in Thelma and Louise. She won a Globe for A League of Their Own and counts Tootside, The Fly, Beetlejuice, The Long Kiss Goodnight andStuart Little among her credits.

Off-screen, Davis is the funder and chair of nonprofit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which calls on TV and film creators to increase the percentages of female characters and reduce gender stereotyping in media targeting children 11 and under. She's repped by CAA and Hansen Jacobson.

The Exorcist is written by Jeremy Slater (Fantastic Four), who exec produces the 20th Century Fox/Morgan Creek Productions entry alongside James Robinson, David Robinson, Barbara Wall and Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), the latter of whom will direct the pilot. Brianne Howey, Hannah Kasulka, Kurt Egyiawan co-star.